Café Terrace at Night: Five details that unlock the genius of Van Gogh's original 'starry night' ^50.1%

BBC Culture - By Kelly Grovier - 6/19/2026, 11:00 AM

Biased Writer Voice 63.2% - Ambiguity (Equivocation) 27.8% - Appeal to Authority 17.3%

With his first "starry night" painting in Arles in 1888, Vincent van Gogh transformed an ordinary city square into something extraordinary – here's how he did it, and what it means. Before there was The Starry Night, nine months before, to be exact, there was Café Terrace at Night. Painted in September 1888, the luminous portrayal of a... more

'The vibrant proof of a presence slipped away': Why David Hockney's 1967 masterpiece is newly poignant after his death ^46.4%

BBC - By Kelly Grovier - 6/12/2026, 4:30 PM

Biased Writer Voice 46.9% - Appeal to Emotion 21.9% - Confirmation Bias 20.3%

In the wake of legendary British artist David Hockney's death, aged 88, his famous meditation on presence and absence, A Bigger Splash, takes on a new meaning. Created three years after moving to Los Angeles from London, David Hockney's iconic acrylic painting A Bigger Splash is a study in perception and the fleetingness of being. Since... more

A lonely monkey to the dark side of the Moon: Nine of the most striking images of 2026 so far ^68.7%

BBC - By Kelly Grovier - 6/2/2026, 11:00 AM

Biased Writer Voice 92.8% - Appeal to Emotion 47.2% - Halo Effect 37.6%

An expert's guide to the some of the most eye-catching photographs of the year – and how they echo masterpieces from art history. The photo of once-powerful figures, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores – hunched over in handcuffs and escorted by armed Federal agents in early January – was genuinely arresting.... more

'Faithful wife', virgin or tragic martyr?: Why this 16th-Century masterpiece is not what it seems ^69.1%

BBC - By Kelly Grovier - 4/9/2026, 10:00 AM

Framing Effect 37.5% - Overconfidence Bias 10.3% - Hasty Generalization 9.6%

Overpainted images found hidden inside Raphael's Portrait of a Young Woman with a Unicorn help unlock the mystery behind it. They also show the ways that the image of the ideal woman has been carefully controlled by men through the centuries. What do you get when you cross a mythical creature from folklore with a medieval torture device?... more

11 of the Winter Olympics' most striking images - as classical artworks ^97.8%

BBC - By Kelly Grovier - 2/20/2026, 10:49 AM

As the 2026 Winter Olympics close, the BBC rounds up some of the most stunning photos captured from the Games, and compares them to historic works of art. According to the ancient testimony of a Stone Age cliff painting in northwest China's Altai Mountains, the art of skiing may be as old as the art of writing. The image, which depicts... more